It seemed like only yesterday. Actually it was exactly
three months since
I last testified against a bill expanding tolls onto
more highways in Massachusetts. But there I was,
testifying once again, against a bill proposing more toll
roads in the Bay State, again. This bill,
S.1987, sponsored by Senator Karen Spilka (D-Ashland)
was eerily similar to the one proposed last year by then
Senator McGee (D-Lynn). Yep, it was like “Groundhog
Day” appearing before the same Joint Committee on
Transportation in the same location deep in the bowels of
the State House.
Apparently the committee had forgotten the arguments I had
presented last October 24th, so I had to hit them on the
head (apologies to the Gronk) with these same arguments
again. My testimony included a recitation of expenses
already incurred by motorists. There’s the sales tax
on purchase of a car, annual auto excise, driver’s license
fees, vehicle registration, inspection fees and tolls.
The Legislature added three cents per gallon to the gas tax
in 2013 for our enjoyment.
I pointed out that motorists don’t care for added taxes
and/or tolls as evidenced by their behavior in 2014.
That year Massachusetts voters defeated, on the ballot, a
proposal to tie any increase in the gas tax to inflation
automatically — with no roll call vote needed by the
Legislature. The folks pushing for a “No” vote on this
tax increase were outspent 30-to-1 by special interest
big-spenders and still won!
Using statistics gleaned from the
Reason Foundation’s 22nd Annual Highway Report, we found
that Massachusetts spends far more on highways,
bridges, etc. than the national average on each
state-controlled mile. For example, on maintenance
disbursements the national average is $25,996 per mile while
Massachusetts spends $78,313. On administrative
disbursements the national average is $10,051 per mile,
while Massachusetts comes in at an astounding seven times
higher figure of $74,924. The most irritating
aspect of these revelations: the committee didn’t
appear to be disturbed by these statistics whatsoever, or
even interested.
The other bill that received our attention was
H.1828. Its description in a nutshell: a
task force would study ways to impose a “user fee that is
based on the number of miles traveled on roads in this state
by those motor vehicles.” Immediately I described this
as a “Big Brother” move reminiscent of a page from Orwell’s
“1984.” The sponsors had the audacity to state in one
section of the bill that it would “…ensure drivers’
privacy…” Orwellian double-speak at its finest!
"How is this even remotely possible when the state is
tracking every one of your miles driven?" I asked the
committee! The
CLT News Release captures this bill’s essence perfectly:
quoting the musical group The Police, “Every
breath you take, every move you make, I’ll be watching you.”As usual, I received no questions from the committee — not
one — carrying on a tradition similar to several committees
I testified before last year. I’ll say one thing for
this Transportation Committee. Of the twenty
committee members, half of them showed up for this hearing —
10 out of 20. Believe it or not, this represents a
high attendance rate compared to most of the committees I’ve
appeared before in the last few years. I guess maybe
the no-shows were doing other things to justify the obscene
$18 million dollar pay hike they voted for themselves last
year.
